Don't Tear Down The Inn

Our Towns

Stafford

November 18, 2004

Preservationists may be late in their efforts to save a Stafford landmark dating to 1816. But their cause has considerable merit.

Marie-Therese Courrieu, who owns the 19th-century home of a Stafford industrialist, should make a final effort to find a buyer who would preserve this wonderful building and save a piece of Stafford's disappearing heritage.

Ms. Courrieu is poised to sell her 1.1-acre property on West Main Street to Cumberland Farms. The sale is contingent on the town granting several variances and a special permit. If approved, the company would tear down the 188-year-old Italianate Victorian house. It was built by Parley Converse, who was a wealthy business leader, mill owner and politician and it remained the family home until 1882. Mr. Converse's life and work parallel Stafford's heyday as a thriving industrial center.

In the 1930s, the house was converted to a popular restaurant and inn. As it changed owners, it stayed a restaurant, which may have saved it from an earlier demolition. From the mid-1970s until 1999, Ms. Courrieu and her husband, Pierre, ran it as Chez Pierre, an acclaimed French restaurant.

Some properties around the house became businesses. Others are homes. The mix means exceptions to zoning rules must be stingily granted. The zoning board of appeals has reason to deny Cumberland Farms' requests for variances. The store would have a larger footprint than the house. It would not meet requirements for distance between properties or for parking. The gas pumps would be too close to homes. One house is only about 100 yards away.

Residents don't object to a business here -- just one that would destroy the house. That's what the ZBA needs to hear.

Attend the Dec. 2 public hearing at 7 p.m. in town hall and speak out for saving this important house. Then help find a buyer who understands its worth and will preserve it properly.